YOM KIPPUR 5781

 

5781

Good morning.  I hope your fast is going well.

Wow! It’s been  a year since we’e been together and what a year it has been. I remember at the nend of last calendar year having  a conversation with a friend and saying you know, you just never know what’s going to happen next year that we can’t even imagine right now.And never has that been more true.

My oldest son…and my two grandchildren…live in Berlin. They were supposed to come visit in April. Of course that didn’t happen. We would have visited in August but as my son said, Dad it’s going to be a long time before they let people from the US come here. It’s now been over a year since we’ve  seen them. Like many of you, we have weekly family ZOOM meetings.  So a coupe of weeks ago, we’re talking about our current reality. Orange skies over San Francisco. Temperatures of 120’ in Los Angles and weather reports with the word firenado in it. Ten percent of Oregon burned to the ground. Hurricanes, floods and now “zombie storms.”  Killer  hornets. A virus that has killed 2000000 of our fellow citizens. And armed groups of Americans facing off against each other. My son says, Dad, I’m not sure if there’s a God or not. But if there is, and God wants to get our attention, uh, I think it would look something like this…

What I’m saying is if ever there’s a time for a fresh start, this would be. it. I’m fully ready to let 2020 go and just embrace 5781.

I’m in a Wednesday morning conversation group. There’s a woman who has the annoying quality of always looking at the bright side of things. Just when I’m ready to really enjoy being depressed about everything, she’s got to come up with something good. She keep saying that there have been gifts, new opportunities brought to us by the virus.  And I say, “Yeah, but it still sucks…” But she has a point. I remember, in the middle of the full lockdown, being in Central Park. How blue and clear the sky was. And I heard all these birds singing. I realized there was no traffic. No honking horns. No planes or helicopters. I remember having read that in Wuhan, they heard the birds sing for the first time in decades. With clear skies, many more birds were hanging out. 

I began taking closer notice of nature. The coming and going of tulips in the Conservatory Garden. An egret I saw every day in Morningside Park, sometimes journeying over to the Harlem Meer.  I began noticing turtles. How they look like I do swimming the breast stroke. They can quarantine in place by just pulling in their head. The way they come out and bask in the sun. The gingerly way geese walk on the rough pavement and their web feet then their smooth glide across the water. One day for twenty minutes I watched a squirrel eating pizza.  And one day, I had this realization, that all creation, all creatures, are perfect just as they are. (Well maybe not the platypus..) All creatures are perfectly deigned to do what it is they do and be what they are supposed to be. That thought was is serious tension with my conviction that we must always be involved in tikkun olam, repairing the world. And that  the most sacred part of life is that everflowing prophetic stream that has always fought for a more just, humane, inclusive and sustainable world. 

But then I had an even deeper realization, if all these creatures, egrets, geese, turtles, squirrels, are perfect, then so are you and I, in and with our imperfections. 

This is a season for repentance. And forgiveness, Reconciliation. And getting written into that book of life for another year. I so deeply appreciate and respect that Judaism has taught us that if you have wounded, hurt someone, you must ask them for forgiveness before going to God. Likewise, we are to forgive others. But here’s the thing….I am convinced that the hardest person for us to forgive is ourselves. As a minister, every time I lead a service I lead the prayer of confession and then give the assurance of pardon, “Jesus came into the world not to condemn, but to forgive. Know that who you are, as you are, you  are seen, are welcomed, are accepted, forgiven and loved.”In conversation with my colleagues, many of us struggle to accept that for ourselves.

I’m thinking of Adam and Eve. How they coved themselves because they realized the wee naked and were ashamed. Let’s be clear,,,this was not about not having no clothes. Or not about sex. They had just eaten of what? The tree of the knowledge of good and evil….which means they now knew the dfference…they were adults….the were afraid the seen as they really were…when we are aware of the content of our actions, remorse is good. Even guilt. If we take rseponsibility and act to make amends. Shame? Ah,not so good. It makes us want to hide, which causes all kinds of problems…

When my congregation studied the Torah, it took 2 1/2 years, every Monday, to read every word, we discovered that the “great commandant,” to love your neighbor as yourself, is in the exact center of the Torah, equal before and after. (Lev.19: 18) Like all the mitzvot on either side are ways to do that. But here’s the point….as you love yourself. You can’t love your neighbor if you don’t love yourself.  There’s ample evidence to suggest that people who join mobs, people who join hate groups, proud boys, what not, are people who are not able to love themselves. So my first hope for you on this day of atonement is that you can feel a sense of oneness with yourself. 

But the other is important too. My tradition used to have  a rule that if you came to the communion table with something against someone, something broken, you were supposed to leave and geo take care of it before taking communion. By the same token,I almost feel like people really ought to make healing of relationships part of the Yom Kippur experience. Yeah, I know there’s not much time left. But try this between now and when  you break your fast, try to think of one relationship that is broken, or not right, And try to think of just one thing you might do to begin to open the door to healing. (It’s never easy…a step at time.) Nothing brings more joy to God than healing of relationships.  Being at one with each other is a big step towards atonement with God.

My hope for you this Yom Kippur 5781 I that you might experience yourself as one known and beloved by God and one capable of loving others and engaging in the holy work of Tikkun Olam. That you might feel your onenesss with God, Adonai, Hashem, the Creator, the Spirit, the source, the nameless one…however you experience holy reality….that this may that be yours.

(Now…as Passover seders end with Next Year in Jerusalem, I’d like to say next year at the Bitter End…may God preserve that special place until we can meet again there…)

Living in coronavirusworld 11: shabbat in corona virus time

4/3

...blooming...

At 6:30 PM I join my friend Steve for the 30 minute musical warm up before his shabbat service.  I sing my song about this coronavirusworld, Listen.   Steve recently had one of his original “virus”pieces featured in Vanity Fair. (https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2020/03/a-lockdown-letter-from-new-york?fbclid=IwAR0cfo8CnD_aJhYY5pNhEITj5znNMgIWkO2HgiAYKw_JJFBCu7Meyc-gTHk). 

We try singing Leonard Cohen’s “Anthem” like we’ve done live together. It’s a bit 

odd not being in the same room together attempting harmony.  Then in honor of Bill Withers, who died today, "Lean on Me.” (You can check out the music and service at https://www.facebook.com/stevenblanemusic/videos/355062968766109/?eid=ARCBH3MBjJAkzLqfKq7z7m4EgVzQCWggA3_4gKg7lVyPHJE-yCTJtczUogs7_KyRACrfX6d9ih5QB8XH).)

Then it’s time for “Shabbat in Corona virus time” with Congregation Sim Shalom. But at At 7PM, just before the service begins, I hear through my window the nightly salute to emergency workers: medical workers, delivery people, clerks, transit workers…the people keeping us alive. With cheers and rattling of pots and pans like Latin American caserolazas, only in praise, not protest. Even in the streets of  Harlem it echoes and I hear  through Steve’s window as well.  The online service unfolds just like usual. Only it’s not usual. The community gathers from around the world, even Cuba.  Steve greets them as they tune in. He asks me to share some reflections.  I begin by talking about my experience with Ecclesia and the homeless people in Marcus Garvey Park. And the refrigerator trucks in Brooklyn. And the tents in Central Park. We are literally walking through the valley of the shadow of death. How hard it is not to fear. I talk about how as hard as it is being “quarantined,”  it’s not all that uncommon. How my son’s wife had to spend days with her parents in their basement during the Serbian bombing of her home city.  And how my Serbian friends hid in basements for 78 days while NATO mobbed their country. Or Jews hiding in tiny crawl spaces for years during World War II. We have done that to each other. We have lived through it and survived. We need to draw on those legacies.  To get through this. And I of course I finished by talking about gratitude. Resistance begins with gratitude. What happened today that I am thankful for? This Shabbat, the prayers for healing and the mourners’ kaddish has special meaning tonight.

Steve at one point makes reference to holocaust and one of the  congregants objects.  He apologizes for having offended the congregant, acknowledges that for some, no comparisons can ever be made. And then says, I wasn’t there for that holocaust. But this is my holocaust. It’s everyone who is vulnerable. There may be a million dead already. And my wife and my family are in danger  revery day. It’s enough…. This is very untypical for Steve who in his service believes that for  most of us, our lives are so demanding that we need a weekly break, we need a  weekly moment of comfort and peace, a shabbat. Someone else tries to extend the controversy but Steve wisely moves on. We move on to the final prayers, a word of peace. And the service is ended. Back to the solitude of our homes.

                                                                                                                        ****

I visit with my friend who had the virus.(On facebook, live..) She’s back in the land of the living. Color in her face again.  It is good to see each other, I haven't  seen her face since, well, before…. Wondering how long until that might actually happen again….

Great and Small

9/29

Back to Good Shepherd Faith in the shadows of Lincoln Center....

My other text for the day is ...
"You who choose to lead must follow..." that's actually the Grateful Dead...'

Where to begin? So many moments from this past week floating around...it was Yom Kippur...you ever notice that even with Labor Day, the fall really doesn't begin in New York City until after the High Holy Days? I loved seeing the boxes plied to the roof high in front  of Barney Greengrass, delivery trucks fired up and ready to go..

Ready for BreakFast

.their biggest day of the year...supplying lox and bagels to the world...the last  couple of years, they've rented out the West Park Chapel as an extra work space...something about their night long marathon makes me smile..

Yom Kippur morning my rabbi friend Steve invited me to preach at his Yom Kippur service at the Bitter End.

Yom Kippur at the Bitter End

..he does his usual services online but on High Holy days gathers a real live crowd at the iconic night club with a jazz band. Now that was a pretty good sermon, BUT, ah not quite right for today..

Friday night two West Park members, including one from Kazakhstan had an international music festival including American singer song writers, a rock singer from Malaysia, Central Asian pop singers, rappers form Queens a heavy metal guitar player from Moscow and a Tazhiki wedding singer. Leaving aside the occasional SNL feel to the night, I'm willing to bet there was not a more diverse audience in the Upper West Side. (Or beyond)

Yesterday I studied the beauty of Goergia O'Keefe's Hawaiian paintings  at the Botanical gardens.

Georgia O'Keefe in Hawaii

Georgia O'Keefe in Hawaii 

And last night, again at West Park, a concert for Nicaragua...with a singer who took me back to the 80's and all my time there. FYI, the country's leader has become a despot and over 400 have been killed and 23000 fled into neighboring Costa Rica. "It feels like we've been at war most of my life" the singer says. And when the tour is done, mother and daughter will go to Europe because they can't go back. Our Presbyterian mission workers have left too. 

Katia Cardenal at West PArk

All these in my mind when I think about my "prompting"..but here's where I want to go. I went to Louisville this  week to do a memorial service. For a friend who worked for the PCUSA for 35 years following the circle  from NYC to Louisville. With one year to go before 65, she turned down an opportunity for early retirement out of dedication and wound up being cut in a reduction of staff move. After 35 years....

Remembering Susan

She was not one of our church's visible faces. Stated Clerk or CEO or Division Head with portfolio or tall steeple preacher. Not featured in church magazines or webinars or....she was an administrative person. One who answered the phones. And for hundreds, thousands of presbyterians across the country, she was voice that people heard who called with problems from AIDS to mental illness to healthcare issue to addictions to domestic violence....she was a rolodex, no a Siri, better than Siri...she knew who was doing what where around the country and where to connect someone and would stay with them as long as it took. Far more than any "leader" or "face,"  she was the voice of our church and the loving heart that helped people feel loved, cared for and valued. And when she died, she could not be listed in the church's necrology because she was not an elder. Or even Presbyterian. Her name was Susan. And she is representative of 100's of others across this church who spend their lives, literally, making church real for people.

"Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all." See?

Jesus had tried to tell the disciples something important. But they just didn't get it. At all. And didn't even bother to to ask. Instead they fell into bickering about who was greatest. (And where was Martha during this debate?) Jesus sets them straight. Keep that in mind. 

Then he takes it further...
Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, 37"Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me."
Children...I'm not going to go too long on this one, but two things come to mind...
ONE...the morning I woke up and realized "I live in a country that separates parents from children and puts children in cages. I'll say that again...I live in a country that separates parents from children and puts children in cages. Let that sink in.

And I thought of the horrible revelations about the Catholic church that broke while I was in Pittsburgh. Numbers so staggering ...300 priests and over 1000 victims in just ONE state. I'm always uncomfortable about talking about another tradition, but sure feels like something's seriously broken...friends in deep pain over now discovered broken trust... 

And responses to the Kavanagh accusations that sound like "boys will be boys, girls you're on your own..."

7"Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me."

and the opposite equally true...

Jesus was trying to tell them about where his path would lead. And when they didn't get it, he responded with a model of what is called in some circles "servant leadership..."  It is the Susans of this church, this world, that keep it going but more so give witness to what the ministry, the reality of the living Christ is.

So as we conclude, take a minute and see if you can think of one who has been that in your life, who's quiet, unassuming work has lived out the gospel...

Thank God for their lives among us...

Amen


It was interesting to hear the responses...one person picked himself...







Psalm 1

1Happy are those

who do not follow the advice of the wicked,

or take the path that sinners tread,

or sit in the seat of scoffers;

2but their delight is in the law of the LORD,

and on his law they meditate day and night.

3They are like trees

planted by streams of water,

which yield their fruit in its season,

and their leaves do not wither.

In all that they do, they prosper.


4The wicked are not so,

but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

5Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,

nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;

6for the LORD watches over the way of the righteous,

but the way of the wicked will perish.

Second Reading James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a

13Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. 14But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth. 15Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. 16For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind. 17But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. 18And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.

4:1Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you? 2You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures.

7Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.

Gospel Mark 9:30-37

30They went on from there and passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it; 31for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, "The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again." 32But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him.

33Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, "What were you arguing about on the way?" 34But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest. 35He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, "Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all." 36Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, 37"Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me."

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L'shana Tovah 5778

10/1

The High Holy Days Band and me....

As the Jewish High Holy "Days of Awe" come to an end, I want to share with you thoughts from the  sermonI preached for my friend Rabbi  Steve Blane's "Sim Shalom"  Rosh Ha Shana service at the Bitter End, the famous Greenwich Village night club. For me there's an irony in having my first real gig at the Bitter End as a preacher, not as a singer-songwriter.

Rabbi Blane has his jazz group with bass and piano and drums backing him this year augmented by a friend who's played with me many times, Lizzie Taub.

So after the Torah reading, Rabbi Steve called me up

Robert Brashear and Rabbi Steve Blane

and this is what I had to say:

OK...so I have to ask....Rabbi,  this is the first day of the Jewish New Year, right? So what month is it? Tishri? And he replies that it is the ninth month.  What? I ask. How's that?

Well, I've done some reading and I discovered that the commentators record how the Jewish faith community faced a difficult decision. Would it be a holiday in the first month, Nisan, which celebrates their liberation? Or this day from the  ninth month, celebrating creation?  And so the community chose creation, a universal symbol, instead of a tribal celebration. And I am convinced that it is that choice that has enabled the Jewish religion to be a true "light to the nations."

The world needs a birthday...and this day is as good as any. It's an opportunity for a fresh start....and how we need a fresh start. Since last year, 5777, I wish we could have a whole do over, but that's not going to happen so a fresh start, a new beginning, will have to do. Never turn down an opportunity for a fresh start. 

So these days are days when you seek to become "one" with God again. And there are rituals related to forgiveness. It's good to remember that we don't ask God for forgiveness for something done to another person. We have to begin with that person. Likewise, we can never offer forgiveness for something not done to us. And ultimately the forgiveness we offer, the letting go, sets us free. It frees us from defining ourselves by our suffering inflicted by others. 

Reconciliation on the other hand is something different. It's a process. It takes two. And takes work. So I have two challenges for you during this season...first, think of one relationship that is damaged or even broken.,think of just one thing you could do to take the first step back to relationship and do it. Just one step. It's one step back towards wholeness. 

Now the other is this. I recently heard a Lutheran pastor say  that the one person who is the most difficult to forgive is ourselves. I knew that's true. So in these days of seeking and offering forgiveness, start by forgiving yourself. That would truly be a new beginning. That's what being inscribed in the book of life feels like. 

I love the symbols of the season....the round challot, for the ever flowing cycles of life. The apples and honey for a sweet year. 

It's the first day of Tishri, it's Rosh Ha Shana. Take the new beginning.  Enjoy the sweetness of living. L'Shana Tovah.